• The elements of art are 

the building
blocks of an artwork: color, line, shape,
form, value, texture, and space. They are
the tools artists use when creating an
artwork. The principles of design are how
those building blocks are arranged:
contrast, rhythm, proportion, balance,
unity, emphasis, movement, and variety.
 Elements of Art: Line

A line is one of the simplest elements of art. Lines are

marks upon paper or canvas. They can be horizontal,
vertical, curved, or any other shape. Art forms that use
lines include drawings, paintings, and other two-
dimensional art forms. Even a few sparing lines can create
an interesting and meaningful work of art, which is one of
the reasons why artists often spend so much time doing
line work as practice. Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, and
Degas are just a few famous artists who have used lines to
create expressive graphite drawings.
 Elements of Art: Shape

• Connecting lines together to enclose some areas is

called shape. Shapes are often organic, meaning
that they follow the kinds of shapes that one might
find in nature and are more or less irregular. Some
artists also use geometric shapes, which are the
genre of shapes one might find in a mathematics
textbook. Most drawings that use lines will also use
shapes. Artists who used distinctive, often geometric
shapes include Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse,
and Piet Mondrian.
 Elements of Art: Space
• Space is an interesting element in art. It is the variation of size
and shape in the elements of a drawing or painting. Often,
this serves to create the illusion of depth on a flat canvas.
One way to create the illusion of depth is to have objects on
the canvas overlap. Painters who do not use space in their
work often create paintings that look as though they are flat
or exist on a single plane, which can itself be a valuable and
well-considered choice. Some artists have used space to
create an unusually developed depth of field in a piece or to
alter how people will perceive a work of art depending on the
angle from which they view it. Such artists include JMW
Turner and Gustave Caillebotte. Hieronymous Bosch used
space to confuse the eye and make it difficult to know what
the scale of an image was meant to be.
 Elements of Art: Value

• Value is a way of talking about light and darkness in art.

White is considered the lightest value, while black is the
darkest value. Value is often arranged on a scale from light
to dark. Artists often use value to create contrast and to
draw viewers' eyes to specificpoints in a work of art. While
virtually any work of art will have the element of value in
some capacity, some artists make more deliberate use of it
than others, creating images in which light and darkness are
foundational elements of visual perception. Joseph Wright
of Derby, Caravaggio, and Gerrit van Honthorst all created
paintings with widely differing values. The interplay of light
and shadow in art is sometimes known as Chiaroscuro.
 Elements of Art: Form

• Form is an element of art that is applicable exclusively

to sculptures and other three-dimensional artwork.
The form of an artwork is the three-dimensional space
that it takes up. How big is it? How solid is it? Does it
move? All of these are questions that one might ask
about artistic form. Some works of art have variable
form, particularly if they are sculptures that are
intended to change over time. Artists have a great deal
of leeway when it comes to form. Artists who have
used form creatively in their sculptures include Theo
Jansen, Marco Cianfanelli, and Willard Wigan.
 Elements of Art: Texture
Texture refers to the way an object feels to the
touch or looks as it may feel if it were touched.
Texture is one of the seven elements of art.
Understanding it fully will lead to stronger
drawings and paintings. . Texture - element of
art that refers to the way an object feels to the
touch or looks as it may feel.
 Elements of Arts: Space
Space in a work of art refers to a feeling of
depth or three dimensions. It can also refer to
the artist's use of the area within the picture
plane. The area around the primary objects in a
work of art is known as negative space, while
the space occupied by the primary objects is
known as positive space.